Weve had a handful of stories over the past day regarding the potential unavailability of several NFL games in their local television markets.
The games will be broadcast on the various over-the-air stations; based, however, on a dispute between Time Warner Cable (including Bright House Cable) and LIN TV, the broadcasts wont be available via cable.
A memo sent by NFL Network chief Steve Bornstein to all teams identifies a total of seven games that will be affected by the dispute, it its not resolved by Sunday.
The game between the Colts and the Texans wont be seen in Ft. Wayne, Indianapolis, or Buffalo.
The Bills-Cardinals contest wont be seen in Buffalo.
The Steelers-Jaguars game on Sunday night wont be seen in Dayton, Ohio; Austin, Texas; Portsmouth/Norfolk, Virginia; and Springfield. (We assume Illinois and not the non-state-specific home of the Simpsons.)
The game between the Falcons and Packers wont be seen in Green Bay.
The game between the Bears and the Lions wont be seen in Toledo, Ohio.
The Bengals-Cowboys game wont be seen in Ft. Wayne and Indianapolis.
The Redskins-Eagles game will be unavailable in Portsmouth/Norfolk, Virginia.
The memo estimates that 1.4 million homes will be affected by the absence of the games.
The memo also recommends that teams point out that the NFL has no involvement in the dispute, and that, while other major cable operators have reached an agreement with LIN TV, Time Warner has not.
The latter point is surely aimed at Time Warners inability to reach a deal with the NFL for the inclusion of NFL Network on Time Warner Cable. The fact that other cable operators have reached an agreement with LIN TV and Time Warner hasnt suggests to the objective outsider that perhaps Time Warner is to blame for the absence of NFL Network on the Time Warner system.
Though the memo makes no express mention of NFL Network or of the lingering dispute with Time Warner, the fact that the memo comes from Steve Bornstein, who runs NFL Network, creates a pretty clear link between the two issues.
In Green Bay, Time Warner has made free antennas available for its customers. In Indianapolis, an agreement has been reached to pump the audio of the game over the cable system.
Hopefully, LIN TV and Time Warner will work out their differences ASAFP.